


Just Overwhelm Me

by frozenfoxfire (dadcastellanos)



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Dark, Begging, M/M, Mind Control, Stockholm Syndrome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-25
Updated: 2012-07-25
Packaged: 2017-11-10 16:44:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/468473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dadcastellanos/pseuds/frozenfoxfire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>End of the World AU because those are my favourite.</p><p>Loki and Tony prepare for the end of the world.</p><p>Loki//Tony. Major character death but not in detail. Mentions of death, torture, suffering. Begging.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just Overwhelm Me

**Author's Note:**

> not a happy ending. at. all.
> 
> really I'm not sure how to describe this beyond "all hope is lost".
> 
> suggested reading music: The Lightning Strike I: What If This Storm Ends - Snow Patrol. it literally is the only reason I wrote this.

It's one of the worst storms Tony Stark has seen in a long, long time.

The wind isn't bitter but it is cold, violent. It almost has the power to push him from where he stands, if only a step or two, but the metal suit encasing his body like a tomb keeps him stock-still. _This,_ he thinks to himself, _is it. This is it._

_This is the end of the world._

He feels his hair move, what little of it can under the helmet, as the faceplate opens and he surveys the scene. The city is in chaos, fire and riots at every corner. There are people running for their lives on the bridges, and many of them are being trampled. Lightning streaks through the sky, the resulting thunder sounding hurt, angry, vengeful; no rain falls.

It used to be a screaming mass made him want to jump to action. It used to be he'd hear someone in trouble and react without thinking. He ponders that thought for only a moment before it's quietly wiped away, before it disappears from his mind just as quickly as it came; his eyes rake over every detail of New York City in ruin. 

"Beautiful, is it not?"

He knows Loki's only just now appeared. He could feel it in the air, taste the magic in his mouth. His ARC reactor flares in his chest, light and heat flashing briefly, when it happens, but he doesn't flinch. He hasn't for a long time. There's no reason to, anymore.

"That really depends on your definition of beautiful," he replies quietly, watching as fire leaps up a building nearby. Something explodes. He doesn't seem to mind, and somehow that bothers him, just a little. "I'd go with long legs and high heels."

"Tsk," Loki mutters. He sounds annoyed, but only just. Tony doesn't feel the fear he would have months ago. Instead, he snorts.

"Not a fan?"

"Simply surprised your mind can be on such things while watching something like _this_ ," and he sweeps an arm out at the city. 

"Yeah, well. The end of the world is kind of like a Cracker-Jack toy. It always looks the same no matter where you get the box." He shifts. His ears pick up a soft moan behind them, and he looks down at his hands. Still bloody. It's coagulating on his gloves. The soft light of his ARC reactor shines through the splatters through the center of each palm. He sighs. "We can't wait for too long," he murmurs.

"I know," Loki replies simply. "I know, my love. Soon, the Asgardians will come, and that will be the greatest obstacle to overcome."

"They're going to gut us like fish." Tony shoots a look at Loki and is ignored. "They're going to come, they're going to rip us apart, and then they'll take you away and I'll be stuck here, dying."

Loki says nothing. His lips purse, and his eyes darken, and Tony knows he struck a chord.

"What the hell am I going to do without you?"

He can't believe he asked it. Loki can't seem to either; his head snaps over and his eyes look over Tony's suited, bloody form. His bright blue broken-glass eyes, the cracks the sharp brown of before.

"That isn't my concern," Loki replies evenly, and Tony looks away. "I have no doubt they may capture me, but I have all the faith in you, my knight. You will not die this day."

"Yeah," Tony snorts. "Sure."

"You cannot die." Loki's voice is quieter and steady, intensely focused. "You will not die this day because I will not allow you to. Your body may break, your mind may rebel, but you will not die until I give you the permission to."

Tony feels his body shudder. He feels his mind click the pieces into place, understanding the words as none other than Loki's direct command. His eyes flutter up into his head and he closes them, riding out the seconds-long wave. It used to take so much longer, before he stopped fighting it. He hasn't heard the screaming in a long time.

His eyes open again and he nods. "Understood," he murmurs.

 _Wait,_ something in him sparks.

"Good," Loki purrs, looking away.

 _Wait, no,_ it says. _No, no. Please. Please don't do this._

"You'll have to come for me, if they do take me," Loki goes on; there's another moan behind them. "You will have to come, my knight."

_Oh, God. Oh, no. Please, Loki._

"Yeah," Tony replies, ignoring another moan. Sounds like their friend is waking.

 _Not this._ Please, _not this._

"With the upgrades we've made to your suit together, there should be no reason you cannot prevail," Loki sighs, looking back at the third man on the rooftop. "He's waking."

 _They'll torture me!_ the voice screams in the back of Tony's mind, and he staggers slightly, overwhelmed by the sudden intensity of it. It's been a long time. This isn't good. _They'll rip me to pieces and you'll just-_

"You'll have to deal with him," Loki murmurs, and he's staring at Tony intensely.

_You'll just-_

"You know what you must do."

_YOU'LL JUST LET ME SUFFER-_

"I know," Tony replies quietly, and turns. 

_PLEASE, Loki!_ PLEASE _DON'T LET THEM-_

Thor regards him through the blood covering his face. His breathing is hard, ragged. He's heavily wounded, courtesy of the magic running through Tony's veins, through his suit. Courtesy of Loki.

_Don't DO this!_

"Have you fallen so far, my brother?" he asks, his voice hoarse.

Loki laughs, bitterly. "Would you not know yourself? You, that who pushed me to such depths?"

"No," Thor intones quietly, shaking his head slightly. "No, there is not one deed to my name that has incurred such carnage at your hands, Loki."

_Help me-_

"You _lie_ ," Loki hisses, and stalks over, hitting Thor hard in the face with the butt of his scepter. "You LIE!" he screams, and there's a punctuation of thunder, loud and bone-rattling. 

_Somebody,_ help _me-!_

"Never have I wanted this for you," Thor whispers.

"Kill him," Loki spits at Tony, turning his back on the thunder god.

 _No-_ no, _please, please don't-_

Loki's head snaps over, as if he can hear the screaming, the begging, ringing out and echoing throughout Tony's mind. His bright green eyes narrow. He stalks over, standing before Tony. 

" _Do_ you know what you must do?" he murmurs, and Tony nods slowly. Loki snarls. "I want to hear you say it. Tell me."

"I-" and he hesitates. There's a moment where he looks away, caught between the look in Loki's eyes and the sudden aching in his chest. The screaming in his head is loud and persistent, but it's been so long since he last fought back. He doesn't know if he can anymore. 

_Loki- Loki, please, please, they're going to kill you, and I..._

"I must kill the prince of Asgard," Tony says, his voice mechanical. 

"Yes," Loki breathes, and for a moment the shouting eases, and Tony can breathe easy in the knowledge he's made Loki happy somehow, that he's done what he's supposed to do. A half-smile touches his lips.

"If you kill me, Tony Stark," Thor croaks, "this world dies."

"Ignore him," Loki whispers in Tony's ear.

_..please.._

"You have always been the closest to me," he whispers. "You have always known my heart and my self as they are."

_... you.. don't..._

"I would end worlds for you, Tony Stark," he whispers, and everything in Tony believes him. 

It's not the control, anymore. It stopped being that a long, long fucking time ago. That was before the sex. Before the quiet nights together. Before the nights Tony held him, close, tightly, trying to scare his nightmares away. Before they spent two months upgrading the Iron Man into an unholy mix of power and magic that responded flawlessly to every thought Tony had.

Before he knew Loki. Before he really _knew_ Loki.

Before he didn't have to fight anymore.

"I would not ask this of you if I did not think it necessary," Loki murmurs.

"I know," Tony whispers in reply.

"What does this prove, Loki?" Thor interrupts. "What does my death bring you but the rage of the Allfather, and the end of this realm?"

Tony glances at Loki, who tenses against him.

_this isn't love this isn't anything but psychosis_

"Your death," Loki snarls, "will not only rip a hole in the very _soul_ of the Allfather himself-"

_you're going to die you're going to leave me to suffer you WANT me to suffer you want me in pain_

"-but it will rattle his very _bones._ "

 _you want me to suffer and you call it_ love

"It will bring the might of Asgard upon your head," Thor shouts. "They will leave no survivors! They will not stop until you have suffered and died as violently as I have-"

_just so you aren't alone just so you have that little sliver of hope but you're leaving me you're leaving me alone there is no hope here_

"No one will come to save you, Loki," and his voice cracks. Tony realizes he only wants Loki to live so that his brother is not tortured in his memory. He's selfless to the end. He really loves Loki.

_don't leave me don't leave me please_

He raises his hand. His armor glows slightly, magic seeping through the cracks.

"That is where you're wrong," Loki spits, and he runs his fingers down Tony's forearm. "Do you see this?"

_don't leave me alone--_

_I won't,_ murmurs Loki's voice in his head, and his breath catches.

" _This_ is the last gift Asgard will give to the humans," Loki sneers. "This is the final treasure of the people of Asgard. Midgardian technology wrapped in Asgardian magic - there is simply nothing like it."

_I will be with you, always. You will not suffer in vain._

He can feel his body warming with the feeling, the knowledge Loki loves him.

"It will tear the earth of Asgard apart. It will rip the sky to shreds. It will cement my victory as _rightful king of Asgard-_ " 

_Your sacrifice will mean our reuniting. Does that not satisfy you, my knight?_

"-and it will kill you painlessly, without fuss. I have specially designed the projectile within- much like a bullet, but infused with enough magic to penetrate your skull. This is _my_ final gift to _you_ , dear _brother._ " The arm starts to make a quiet whining noise as the energy builds. "The knowledge that your _precious_ Asgard will fall, and that _your death_ will be the spark that burns your _great realm_ to the ground."

"Loki," Thor croaks. "Please."

"Shoot," Loki whispers. 

Tony's faceplate clicks shut, and he fires. It only takes one shot.

He pretends not to notice the tears on Loki's face when he turns, facing him. He pretends not to notice when Loki turns away, scrubbing his face.

"There is no turning back." His voice sounds hurt. Tony pretends not to notice. "There is no turning back from this."

The thunder and lightning intensify, the clouds above the city darkening to an almost impossible black. Streaks of wicked light flash in quick succession, lighting Loki's face as he stares out, his eyes hungry, across the chaotic landscape of New York City.

_let me go. let me go before they come._

"I need you with me," he whispers. "Until the end."

_please, please don't make me suffer, don't make me do this. I did everything else. let me go._

"Forever, my king," Tony replies quietly.

There's a flash of light, and the clouds open; the sky tears itself open, revealing a hole some ways from where Loki and Tony stand. 

"Here they come." Loki's voice is hushed with fear, excitement, rage. "This is the beginning of the end." He turns, a hand on Tony's shoulder. The faceplate raises again, and Tony turns, allowing Loki to lean in and kiss him deeply. He sucks on his lover's lips, and deep down he knows this is the last time.

_please don't._

"I love you," Loki whispers.

_please don't do this._

"Love you too, babe," Tony replies.

_please don't go._

They separate as the sky screams, as both warriors of Asgard and the Valkyries pour through and descend on Midgard. Loki's form shimmers, his golden horns arching towards the sky. Tony's faceplate snaps back into place, and he takes off, prepared for this, the last battle.

Prepared for war.


End file.
